Holga D is a concept camera by India-based industrial designer Saikat Biswas that brings the plastic, medium-format Holga camera into the digital age.
The cheap toy camera design retains the optical jankiness that lures hipsters to this type of camera (i.e. vignetting, blurring, and light leaks), but a DSLR-caliber sensor inside ensures that the anomalies are optical rather than digital.
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Wouldn’t it be neat if we could print out short video clips in Polaroid-esque “prints”? That’s the idea behind Kim Hyun Joong’s Movie Polaroid Camera, a concept camera that uses a flexible display material rather than ink to “print” out ultra-portable video clips rather than traditional Polaroid pictures.
With the direction displays are going (and technology in general), I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw something this crazy sometime soon. Get ready for Harry Potter style photographs!
(via Photojojo)
Here’s a new Sony Alpha concept DSLR camera that features a slanted LCD to keep your face away from the screen, similar to the Sony a352 concept camera that we featured last month. Unlike that one, which had a solar and rounded design, this one has a lot of edges and sharp angles, like what you might see in futuristic concept cars.
There’s also a concept flash unit that uses metal arms to make the flash extendable, allowing you to not only adjust direction but height as well.
What do you think of this design? Should camera makers design cameras to keep it away from the face, or do eyecup extenders suffice?
Here’s a concept design of the “Nikon D4x” by San Francisco-based industrial designer Marc Levinson. Levinson tells us,
This was a student project at California College of the Arts in San Francisco. During my research on DSLRs I ran across some interviews of Giorgetto Giugiaro, the designer of the current top of the line flagship model for Nikon. He claimed that his product “has value as a sculptural work” and his objective was “to create a product with a value that everyone can understand at a glance.” Although I greatly respect his objective and the way he executed it, I wanted to try my own rendition making it even clearer, even to the untrained eye, that this was an object of great value and significance.
I broke away from an overly common form that was derived from film cameras and was dictated by the way that the film fit inside. I went through several physical foam renditions to get to a shape that had more to do with ergonomics, comfort and style than tradition. Although this concept is very different from its predecessors, I made sure to still maintain the overall design language Nikon maintains across its brand using color, detailing and surfacing.
The design is unlike anything we’ve seen here before, especially the placement of the mode dial on the bottom of the camera.
Do you see anything in this design that you think is an improvement on existing DSLR designs? What do you like or not like about it?
3D photography hasn’t arrived in the consumer DSLR world yet, and existing setups require combining two DSLR cameras. What would a 3D-capable DSLR system look like?
Photographer Dean Francis has created a conceptual mockup of the Canon EOS 3D, a DSLR that can either be used as a traditional DSLR, or can be used for 3D photography by attaching an additional module containing a lens and sensor. Another grip module can also be added to the end to make two handed shooting easier.
Here’s what the system looks like when each piece is separate:
To see the mockup in full screen as a flash animation, check out Francis’ website.
With the recent craze in 3D imaging and display technologies, do you think a 3D DSLR system like this might be announced sometime in the near future?
(via Canon Rumors)
Here’s a fun concept design imagining the classic Kodak Brownie reintroduced to for the 2012 London Olympic games as a simple digital camera. Designer James Coleman says,
After researching the history of the Brownie I realised that Kodak often made special edition Brownies for major events such as World Fairs or anniversaries. Being from London, I chose to design a Brownie for the upcoming 2012 Olympic games.
The only control on the camera is the shutter button, and it has three lenses — two for the viewfinders and one for the actual exposure. Rather than looking at an LCD screen or pressing a viewfinder to your face, you gaze into one of the two viewfinders from above depending on whether you’re shooting a landscape or portrait image.
What do you think of this design? Would you enjoy it as a novel “toy” digital camera?
(via Wired)
The “Sony a352″ is a concept camera design by Ryan David Francis, a Industrial Design Student at the California College of the Arts. His aim in the design was to create a camera that focuses on how people hold cameras:
The design of the Sony a352 focuses on how a camera is held and how the user takes a picture. By allowing the user to have a multitude of hand positions, the end result is ultimate creative control.
Another designed feature of the a352 is the sloped angle of the LCD viewing screen. This feature creates a comfortable eye to viewfinder interaction by allowing greater clearance between the user and the camera.
In other words, the design keeps oil off your LCD by keeping from being pressed against your face when you’re staring through the viewfinder.
What are your thoughts on this design? What do you like or not like about it?
Image credits: Photographs by Ryan David Francis and used with permission
The Zero Angle Digital Camera is a conceptual design by Sun ho Sin and Jeong eun Park that protects sensitive components by hiding them when not in use.
The clamshell design allows to camera to be stored and carried safely without a dedicated camera case, keeping your LCD safe from scratches and bumps.
The design is reminiscent of a flip phone, except instead of flipping the camera “open”, one half of the camera is swung all the way around to provide the LCD screen for what resembles a traditional point-and-shoot camera.
What would be even more awesome would be if the camera was completely sealed when closed, protecting it completely from things like water, sand, and dirt.
The idea seems simple enough. Perhaps we’ll see this design in a real camera sometime in the near future. What do you think of this concept?
(via Yanko Design)
This video, created by California photographer Jesse Rosten, offers an interesting glimpse at what digital magazine covers might look like for the iPad. Rather than offer a static photograph of the beach as the print version of Sunset Magazine would, this cover is brought to life with both video and animation.
Audio and video are late to the magazine party, but it looks like they might steal some of photography’s thunder.
(via TechCrunch)
Remember the Nova Concept DSLR? Well this one might be even stranger. Fleximus is a conceptual digital camera that’s based on a flexible tube:
The viewfinder of this tube-shaped camera is on one end of the tube, with the lens on the other. You can either use the compact viewfinder by putting that end of the tube to your eye, or you can attach an optional three-inch display module for a more traditional feel.
The idea behind this concept is that it allows you to take photographs at unconventional angles and with greater flexibility.
This might be useful for street photographers… or maybe spies. The concept of separating the viewfinder physically from the lens and camera itself obviously isn’t new, and can be done already on DSLRs with accessories such as the Aputure Gigtube. However, seeing a whole camera design based around this idea is pretty interesting.
What are your thoughts? Would you consider buying this camera?
